The history and developmental progress of flashing elements and systems has been clearly and extensively set forth in the aforementioned related application and accordingly the entire contents thereof is incorporated herein by the above reference. This application is taking the art of flashing to the next level wherein an entire window opening is flashed to protect it from the unwanted intrusion of water and air therearound through the use of readily available commercial products. More specifically, it utilizes a coated polyethylene sheet material which is manufactured with a clay coating on one or both sides thereof and readily accepts and bonds with commercially available elastomeric adhesive rubber sealants. It accomplishes the same results as my earlier application without the need for any molded components and requires less time in completing an installation.
In my prior application, this same type of coated polyethylene material was utilized in combination with elastomeric adhesive rubber sealant and a uniquely formed termination accessory for providing end dam corner protection at the sill areas of a roughed-in window opening. Additionally, the prior application, in certain embodiments, also provided for installation of coated polyethylene sheet material around all four sides of a roughed-in window opening with or without the use of termination accessory units in the lower left and right corners of the opening.
It has since been discovered that through a unique folding sequence, the coated polyethylene sheet material can be created to form the required closure at the corner areas thus eliminating the need for the termination accessory units previously utilized. As such, these uniquely folded flashing components are creased and pre-folded and available in a variety of sizes and then can be cut in-situ, if necessary, by the installer to the required dimensions of a particular job. It has been found that a typical window rough opening can be completely flashed, i.e. all four sides of the opening, by utilizing eight of the aforementioned pre-folded flashing components by installing them in a particular sequence whereby run-off overlapping of the components is attained.
It has been further found that after flashing a rough opening with these pre-folded components and prior to the installation of the closure unit (window, door, louver, etc.) an additional measure of water and air intrusion protection can be obtained by the installation of additional sealing measures with respect to the horizontal overlapping joints of the sill area as well as the end corner dam areas, to effectively complete the exterior flashing around the sill portion of the opening.
Each of these pre-folded flashing components is made from a roll of coated polyethylene sheet material which is available in roll form of a particular width. Each component is individually cut from the roll to measurements slightly greater than half of the opening size and includes an upwardly turned inner flange portion and also a unique corner dam feature which is comprised of a plurality of folds to provide a leak proof end dam corner portion thus eliminating the need for the previously used termination accessory unit. These pre-folded flashing components are provided in two styles, a left-hand component and a right-hand component. Thus, the flashing of all four sides of a rough opening requires a total of eight components, four right-hand components and four left-hand components. The manner of folding and installing these unique pre-folded components will be described in greater detail hereinafter.
An object of the invention is to provide a novel flashing system utilizing readily available materials.
Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of pre-folded flashing components which can be installed in an overlapping manner with a coating of elastomeric rubber adhesive sealant there between, thus accommodating a variety of opening sizes.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flashing system wherein corner end dams are provided without the need for specialized molded units.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a flashing system wherein a coated polyethylene sheet material is utilized which bonds with known elastomeric rubber adhesive sealants to form watertight joints.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a flashing system wherein all four sides of a rough opening are flashed prior to installation of the opening closure.
Another object of the invention is to provide a flashing system wherein additional sealing is provided after the installation of the flashing components in the rough opening to provide an extra measure of sealing against water and air intrusion in those areas.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of flashing at least the lower half of a rough window opening including the sill, sill/jamb corners and the lower half of the jambs to provide against water and air intrusion thereabout.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of completely flashing all four sides of a rough window opening to prevent water and air intrusion therearound.
These and other objects of the invention will become more fully understood and appreciated when considered in conjunction with the specification and drawings wherein like reference characters represent the same parts throughout the several views.